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AA won't remove boarded pax for oversales - C of C change April 2017

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AA won't remove boarded pax for oversales - C of C change April 2017

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Old Apr 15, 2017, 8:43 am
  #1  
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AA won't remove boarded pax for oversales - C of C change April 2017

"American will not involuntarily remove a revenue passenger who has already boarded in order to give a seat to another passenger."

https://www.aa.com/i18n/customer-ser....jsp#oversales

http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea....ing-one-hasnt/
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Old Apr 15, 2017, 10:13 am
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Originally Posted by richarddd
"American will not involuntarily remove a revenue passenger who has already boarded in order to give a seat to another passenger."

https://www.aa.com/i18n/customer-ser....jsp#oversales

http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea....ing-one-hasnt/
The situation with UA (or more precisely the regional partner) was not an oversell. Four crew showed up at the gate last minute on a "need to ride", or needed to get to Louisville to command an a/c. The flight was full so the GA chose 4 paxs to IVB. I will bet money that if AA is in the same situation of "need to ride" crew it will go onboard and bump off paxs.
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Old Apr 15, 2017, 10:18 am
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Originally Posted by newyorkgeorge
I will bet money that if AA is in the same situation of "need to ride" crew it will go onboard and bump off paxs.
You think they'll go against their explicitly stated policy (and all manner of common sense)... why, exactly?
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Old Apr 15, 2017, 10:21 am
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And what if it is a "weight and balance" issue?
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Old Apr 15, 2017, 10:22 am
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Lots of gray area in there for crew movements and other operational issues. Seems poorly written to me.

Also, in other words, if a mistake is made, the airline can't fix its mistake and screws over the passenger that's truly deserving of the seat.
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Old Apr 15, 2017, 10:25 am
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Note that the wording says AA will not involuntarily remove one passenger who has already boarded in order to make room for another passenger.

However, the wording doesn't say anything about involuntarily removing a passenger who has already boarded to make room for deadheading employees/crew. Might be good to clarify, don't you think, given the circumstances? (Specifically "must-ride" or positive space deadheading...)
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Old Apr 15, 2017, 10:28 am
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Originally Posted by ESpen36
However, the wording doesn't say anything about involuntarily removing a passenger who has already boarded to make room for deadheading employees/crew. Might be good to clarify, don't you think, given the circumstances? (Specifically "must-ride" or positive space deadheading...)
I think it's implied in that deadheading passengers are passengers. And, as you say, given the circumstances I think removal of passengers already boarded for any reason (absent clearly disruptive / unsafe / illegal behavior on the part of the pax) is a thing of the past.
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Old Apr 15, 2017, 10:28 am
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Originally Posted by minnyfly
Lots of gray area in there for crew movements and other operational issues. Seems poorly written to me.

Also, in other words, if a mistake is made, the airline can't fix its mistake and screws over the passenger that's truly deserving of the seat.
Exactly, are crew deadheading considered "passengers" in this context. Years back a staff member at the SNA AC told me that in extreme circumstances AA will use private charter to transport crew. However, certainly IVBs to accommodate crew is far less expensive than Netjets and the like.

Moreover, in just about most circumstances the GA is going to know there are "must ride" crew that need to be accommodated. Rarely will crew show up at the last minute.
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Old Apr 15, 2017, 10:53 am
  #9  
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Clearly, this situation is not very common in which pax have already boarded and then the GA suddenly needs one or more seats for deadheading crew. As newyorkgeorge points out, most of the time the GA has at least SOME notice that there are "must ride" crew. If the flight is oversold, then the GA has options to voluntarily OR involuntarily deny boarding to accommodate the crew.
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Old Apr 15, 2017, 10:57 am
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Deadheading crew is a legal responsibility of the airline--they are obliged to ensure that crew are in place to operate an aircraft, with sufficient rest if appropriate.

If four "must rides" turn up after a full load of passengers have boarded and the airline is unable to make alternative arrangements to meet its legal obligation to have crew in place, then four seats are going to have to be vacated. How the airline goes about doing that is another question, of course.

And while deadheads are generally known in advance, there are all sorts of reasons why a last minute deadheading situation might arise. Rare it may be--but neither impossible nor unforeseeable.
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Old Apr 15, 2017, 11:03 am
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Originally Posted by AC*SE
If four "must rides" turn up after a full load of passengers have boarded and the airline is unable to make alternative arrangements to meet its legal obligation to have crew in place, then four seats are going to have to be vacated.
Not necessarily. AA would have a few other options (e.g. chartering alternative transportation for the crew, or canceling the flight they're serving if AA can't ultimately get them to it on time).
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Old Apr 15, 2017, 11:06 am
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Originally Posted by rjw242
...or canceling the flight they're serving if AA can't ultimately get them to it on time).
Guaranteed we'll be seeing that happen on occasion as a result of all this.
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Old Apr 15, 2017, 11:07 am
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And I think they're going to need to plan better for weight/balance issues. If they anticipate them, hold back some passengers from boarding until getting the all clear.
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Old Apr 15, 2017, 11:08 am
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Originally Posted by JonNYC
Guaranteed we'll be seeing that happen on occasion as a result of all this.
Wouldn't it be extremely rare for employees to need to get on a flight AFTER it's already completely boarded?
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Old Apr 15, 2017, 11:14 am
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Originally Posted by AZbba
Wouldn't it be extremely rare for employees to need to get on a flight AFTER it's already completely boarded?
To be honest, my post was actually a direct quote from a pretty high-level AA person who sent me a rant on this subject (I actually should have had it in quotes,)-- personally, without that person's guidance on the subject, I wouldn't known if it's "pretty uncommon," "extremely uncommon" or "practically unheard-of"-- but this is from someone who most certainly does, intimately, FWIW.
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